Seguin just barely off the mark

Seguin just barely off the mark

The 20-year-old was one of the best forwards on the ice for the Bruins and seemed to be creating most of the best offensive chances for the Black and Gold, but he just couldnt slap the finishing touch on any of the plays.

So Seguin didnt factor into any of the offense in the Bs 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and a fat upper lip added injury to insult from a Pascal Dupuis high stick to the mouth in the second period. But Seguin was still working hard, creating chances and generating offense in a tangible way that coincided with many of his teammates beginning to put the effort in as well.

It would appear Seguin and the Bruins are getting tired of their alternating pattern of wins and losses, and its showing on the ice. The effort and desire is coming back, and now it comes down to finishing touch returning to skill players like Seguin.

When youre struggling you dont just come out the next night and everything is fixed. Its the same thing when youre winning. Your play is starting to slip, but youre still winning hockey games before it catches up, said Claude Julien. The same thing is going to happen in reverse. Were going to play some decent games and at the end of the night you look at what has happened and were still on the losing end of it.

But you got to start building on the positive. Tonight I thought our effort was better, our focus was better and there were a couple of areas we have to continue to improve on. But if our guys go back out there tomorrow night and give that same effort, were going to turn this around.

The Bruins went on a four-minute power play following the high-sticking infraction, but couldnt score in an afternoon of fruitless offensive offerings. Seguin said he was fine following the game aside from some sore teeth, but was looking back with regret on a couple of the missed chances from a one-goal game. There was a first period setup for a one-timer from Patrice Bergeron that was served on a platter for Seguin, and he got a little too much of the puck while firing the shoot far over the open nets crossbar.

Seguin made a couple of feathery passes to set up Brad Marchand and Joe Corvo for scoring chances with the Corvo pass actually coming during the power play for the high stick against No. 19 but his teammates couldnt finish off the play.

Then there was Seguins partial breakaway in the third period when he darted and dangled through the heart of the Pittsburgh defense, but Marc Andre-Fleury did a masterful job of standing tall with the game on the line. That save represented one of Bostons best scoring chances in the last few minutes of the third period, and it was the first thing Seguin was thinking about after the game.

Personally I thought I had a few chances and I think as a line we definitely had a couple chances there. There were a couple of semi partial breakaways, you know, in tight, said Seguin. Were just not finishing right now. Hopefully we can pop a couple there in Washington tomorrow and get these goals in bunches going.

Seguin showed he was ready to get things going on Saturday afternoon, and theres no reason to think he cant carry that over into Sunday with the team badly in need of his explosive offense.

Friday, Dec. 9: John Scott calls it quits

Friday, Dec. 9: John Scott calls it quits

Here are all the links from around the hockey world and what I’m reading while digging the Spider-Man trailer that dropped last night.

*John Scott has finally called it a day and announced his retirement, and apparently there’s a book of his memoirs also coming out too. I’m predicting it’s not headed for the New York Times best seller list.

*Connor McDavid calls the Flyers' Brandon Manning classless for telling him on the ice that he purposefully tried to hurt him last season. Some players might also take issue with McDavid making public what another player said to him on the ice. That’s kind of a no-no for most hockey players and breaks an unwritten rule that McDavid might think he’s above given his star status. This whole thing isn’t a good look for anybody.

*Kevin Stevens pleads guilty to federal drug charges in what’s become a pretty sad situation for the former NHL star.

*New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is beginning to raise questions with his play, and his massive price tag.

*Youngsters Zach Weresnki and Dylan Larkin took similar paths to the NHL, and are both considered part of the talented young generation full of hockey stars.

*PHT writer Joey Alfieri has Carey Price taking a nutty on Kyle Palmieri after the player crashed into his crease last night. Price is being celebrated for sticking up for himself, but if another goalie did that to a Habs player at the Bell Centre, there would already be a warrant out for his arrest. Play it both ways, Montreal!

Two more Pastrnak goals pull him into tie for NHL lead with Crosby

Two more Pastrnak goals pull him into tie for NHL lead with Crosby

BOSTON – While the loss to the Avalanche on Thursday night was a monumental dud, it put another dazzling display on the hockey resume of David Pastrnak.

The 20-year-old star right winger scored two more goals in the 4-2 loss at TD Garden and nearly brought the Bruins back into the game by himself before another defensive breakdown at the end of the second period doomed them.

Instead, Pastrnak had to settle with being the proud owner of 18 goals scored in 23 games that places him in a tie with NHL superstar Sidney Crosby for the NHL lead in goals.

The goals also showed his wide range of lethal offensive skills. On the first score, he just broke away from the Avalanche defense and managed to bury a second-effort breakaway chance after a nice Tim Schaller stretch pass off the boards. The second goal was a straight one-timer bomb from the high slot off a slick setup pass from Brad Marchand in the corner, and it had the Bruins right back into the mix after a dreadful first period.

It wasn’t enough when the B’s defense faltered again toward the end of the second period, but it was enough for everybody to be singing Pastrnak’s praises once again following the loss.

“He’s a game changer. The momentum is going the other way, and he has the ability to break away on any given shift and score a big goal for us. He did that tonight,” said Torey Krug. “We can’t just keep relying on the same guys to score goals. We’ve got to come up with secondary offense, and I know every other guy wants to do that.

“Now it’s about showing that on the ice and making sure we’re doing the work and getting better and proving to ourselves. But Pasta [David Pastrnak] has been great for us so far, and we’re obviously lucky to have him.”

The 18 goals barely two months into the season are not too shabby for a kid, in his third NHL season, who just now coming into his own. He’s nearly halfway to 40 before Christmas. For Pastrnak, however, it’s about the team result and he wasn’t overly satisfied with his two goals in a losing effort.

“I’ve said before the season that our goal is to make the playoffs and to have that experience and have the chance to win the Stanley Cup. I’m still focusing on that,” said Pastrnak, who has yet to experience the Stanley Cup playoffs in his two-plus seasons with the Black and Gold. “We have zero points from tonight’s game and we have to move on. I think our game gets better in the second and third periods, you know, and we have to regroup and get ready for Saturday’s game.”

The Bruins will undoubtedly regroup and once again count on another Pastrnak offensive explosion to help lead the way in what’s become a truly spectacular season for the youngster.